Griffin (Ga.) shortstop Tim Beckham has signed with Southern California, but there's a good chance he may never play for the Trojans. Beckham is considered a likely first-round choice in the June baseball draft, possibly the first pick. His greatest strength is he has no glaring weaknesses.

One of the first things LSU women's basketball assistant coach Bob Starkey thought of was Hank Gathers. A week ago Monday night, Glen Oaks star junior point guard Shannon Veal collapsed during a playoff game at her school and died later that night of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that involves an enlarged heart.

Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y., is less than 3 miles from St. John's University, which has fallen on hard times of late. The Red Storm haven't reached the NCAA tournament since 2002 and haven't advanced to the Sweet 16 since 1999.

Valuing Greg Monroe's presence on the basketball court means appreciating his character off it. Monroe, the top-ranked senior in the country according to rivals.com and scout.com, participated in the summer Nike Peach Jam invitational in Augusta, Ga., then caught a ride home to New Orleans so he could hop a bus and travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for a church retreat.

The first college football weekend is in the books, and the busy coast-to-coast slate of official basketball visitors is complete, too. What did the action yield? Not a lot, really. Only a pair of programs picked up pledges from prospects.